Wisdom of the greats

Looking out of my window at a big cock bird picking his way down a hedge, just beyond my garden, it strikes me that I shot fewer days this season than in any other since childhood. In truth, it showed. Rather than getting into my stride, I frequently found myself feeling rusty.

For the first time in a while I found myself having to really focus to shoot with any consistency, purely because I wasn’t getting enough time in under the birds. Missing, as is often the case, made me think about the truly great Shots I’ve seen over the years. Certainly, these old boys have put the practice in, but watch them closely or get chatting to them on the Gun bus and you’ll soon realise they have a few tricks up their sleeve to minimise the sort of misses most of us make.

Every once in a while, we find ourselves driving home after a day where some stranger has shot impeccably. They may have got